The background of the invention will be described in terms of the handling of articles which are circuit boards. Most circuit boards are populated with components in an assembly line fashion to produce a circuit package (pack). Typically, a blank or unpopulated board is placed at one end of a pair of spaced, endless belts and is carried therealong from station to station, where various operations, such as component placement, inspection, and soldering, are performed. At certain stations (especially those where component placement and inspection occur) it is necessary to hold the circuit board stationary. Thus, a circuit board carried by the endless belts must be stopped and held at such a station.
Presently, separate mechanically complex devices are employed to stop and then clamp a traveling circuit board. Moreover, such devices are usually specific to the particular station where a given operation is performed.